


Come Home With Me

by digthewriter



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Art, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Party, Digital Art, M/M, Office Party, Office Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-31
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-02-28 09:43:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2727674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/digthewriter/pseuds/digthewriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin is nervous about seeing Arthur at the office holiday party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Come Home With Me

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer** : Merlin characters are the property of Shine and BBC. No profit is being made and no copyright infringement is intended.
> 
>  **Author's Notes** : All my thanks to V for the beta. This is also dedicated to all the pinch hitters for the fest! No fest is completed without others coming to a rescue! I hope you enjoy it!

Merlin walked into the hall feeling a little bit nervous. He was supposed to meet Gwen at the door but she'd messaged him saying that she was running tragically behind schedule and that he could just go in on his own. Great, the one night he really needed his supervisor to be on time, she was running late. No doubt this had everything to do with the fact that Lancelot was going to be at the party, too. That woman forgot her own name when it came to that bloke. Merlin didn't blame her, though. He knew what that was like. To forget your own name when someone you’re crazy about walks into the room.

Instead of waiting for her in the hotel lobby, Merlin decided to just go in. What was the harm, anyway? These people were just as much his co-workers as they were Gwen's. Except, no one had really seen him in a suit before, though. He was Gwen's errand-boy and that's how they treated him; like a teenager who was there to do nothing else but deliver coffee.

Curse his boyish looks! He smiled to himself at the thought. It was something Gwen and Morgana said to him _all the time_. Schooling his expression, he walked into the banquet hall. Surely, no one would expect him to bring them drinks here; it was a catered event. It was his first company holiday party and he was anxious. What if Arthur would be there? Of course Arthur would be there, he was the VP; he and Uther were throwing the event.

"Are you just going to stand by the door, mate?"

Merlin turned to look at the man that was behind him and smiled when he realised it was Gwaine.

"Bloody hell, Merlin," Gwaine said, clearly looking surprised. "I didn't even know that was you! You look..."

"Different, I know," Merlin said, running his hand through his hair.

"Grown up," Gwaine said and Merlin scowled.

"I am twenty-six years old, Gwaine," Merlin retorted.

"I know, but usually the t-shirt, jeans, and the scarf makes you look about seventeen. Which isn't so bad if I was into shagging a teenager."

Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"Just saying, some people in the office are into that sort of thing," Gwaine added.

Merlin sighed with frustration. If only Gwen was there, then no one else would talk to him. He liked it that way.

Gwaine winked at him and pulled him into the room. It was too late now; Merlin couldn't delay it any longer. He was at the party.

Not that everyone had actually turned to look at him, but Merlin could feel the few gazes that did fall upon him and Gwaine as they made their way to the bar. He was sure that it was mostly because, just like Gwaine, people were having trouble recognising him.

Maybe he should start wearing suits to work.

"Gwaine."

Merlin froze when he heard the voice. Gwaine looked past his shoulder and nodded to the man standing behind Merlin. "Hey, Arthur. Having fun?"

"Just got here. Lancelot took his sweet little time trying to doll himself up. He's a nervous wreck," Arthur said.

 _I can relate_ , Merlin thought.

"Who is this, your date?" Arthur asked and Merlin saw the twinkle in Gwaine's eyes. This could only be trouble.

"No this isn't my date. This is Merlin," Gwaine said with a smirk and Merlin could have very well killed him.

Merlin turned around to face Arthur and saw the look of surprise that had registered on his face for just about a second. "Merlin. Wow..." was all he said.

"Hey, Arthur." Merlin nodded and then his gaze fell upon the doors and he hoped for a distraction. Maybe someone could catch on fire and then they all could leave.

"Did you come with Gwaine?" Arthur asked, his tone was unconcerned.

"Yeah!" Gwaine said, chiming in. Perfect timing as always. "We met up in the lobby and walked in together. I offered to buy Merlin his first drink. He's a bit nervous."

"They're...free," Merlin said and shook his head. "I'm going to go look for Gwen," he added and started to walk away.

"Hey, I'll come with you," Gwaine said and then he grabbed the two drinks that were set at the bar. He handed Merlin his drink and then placed his hand on the small of Merlin's back and ushered him away from the bar and Arthur.

"What are you doing?" Merlin asked, annoyed.

"Making Arthur jealous, of course," Gwaine replied in a whisper. "I know how much of a crush you have on him, so—"

"I don't have a crush on him," Merlin retorted. Great, he was evidently completely obvious.

"You keep telling yourself that, Merlin." Gwaine shook his head and finished his drink in one gulp. Then he eyed the drink that Merlin was holding and then Merlin just handed it to Gwaine. He didn't want to make a fool of himself by getting too drunk too fast. If Gwaine wanted to do it, then more power to him.

"Ok, Vivian is here. I am going to go and say hi. Can you fetch us more drinks?" Gwaine winked at Merlin and before Merlin could respond, walked away.

Merlin groaned with frustration. _Errand-boy to the rescue_!

He turned away from the crowd and walked back to the bar. "Two vodka tonics, please," he ordered and then hung his head low taking a deep breath in. He was going to kill Gwen. He didn't care if she was his boss. He was actually going to kill her. Morgana too, maybe.

"I didn't know you and Gwaine were a thing." Merlin looked up to find Arthur standing next to him again. "I'll have the same," he said to the bartender and then set his gaze upon Merlin again.

"You _know_ that we're not," Merlin replied, shaking his head.

"You don't have to be so angry about it, Merlin. I was just saying..."

"Arthur." Merlin took a deep breath in again. "Can we not do this right now? I know you like to tease me and everything, but I have to go be a good little errand-boy right now."

"No, you don't," Arthur said, his voice stern. He turned towards one of the waiters that was carrying an hors d'oeuvres tray and snapped his fingers at him. "Hi, can you take these drinks to that man in the corner with the blond in the blue dress?" He placed the drinks on the man's tray and turned to look at Merlin again.

Merlin only shook his head in disbelief.

"What?" Arthur asked, looking confused.

"You can't just order people around like that all the time. This is exactly what we talked about," Merlin answered. He picked up the drink that the bartender had made for Arthur and took a sip from it.

"I don't just order people around," Arthur argued. "That man's a waiter, his job is to pass around food and drinks. What was so wrong for me to ask him to do his job, _Merlin_?"

"You didn't ask him to do his job. You ordered him to do something, and didn't even thank him."

" _Thank him_? I'm not going to thank the—"

"The help," Merlin said when Arthur had stopped mid-sentence. "This is why I didn't want to come here." Merlin placed the drink back at the bar and walked away.

He was in luck, because as soon as he reached the middle of the hall, he spotted Gwen. _Thank heavens_! She'd seen him too and rushed towards him.

"I'm so sorry, Mer," she said. "I just—my hair wasn't cooperating and I just had this freak out in front of the mirror. I should have just told you to come to my flat and we should've come together!" She looked like she would cry if Merlin didn't forgive her right away.

"It's okay, Gwen," he said, chuckling. "I understand. Emergencies happen." He smiled at her and then leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "Besides," he whispered in her ear, "...I hear Lancelot was a nervous wreck as he was getting ready, too."

She beamed at him and then patted his cheek. "You're just the best, Merlin."

"I know," he said shrugging and they walked hand-in-hand, greeting their co-workers.

The next time Merlin went to get a drink at the bar, he opted to the one that was on the other side of the hall. He didn't want to run into Arthur again and get caught speaking. He avoided Arthur as much as he could in work settings.

There would be no reason for them to be seen together. They worked in different departments and Merlin barely exchanged glances with upper management. Regardless of the fact that he took his lunch three days a week in Arthur's office, mainly just spread on Arthur's desk and Arthur doing most of the _eating_.

Merlin struggled to suppress his smile again as he waited at the bar. Once he'd get started thinking about the kinds of things Arthur liked doing to him, he couldn't stop. And, he didn't want to have to explain himself to Gwaine, if he was caught daydreaming.

After Merlin grabbed the two drinks for him and Gwen, he turned to walk back to his table. He had no idea that Arthur was standing right behind him and he crashed right into him; spilling the drinks all over them.

"For fuck's sake!" Merlin nearly screamed in surprise.

He didn't have time for anything else as he panicked. When they were alone, Merlin was used to screaming out profanities all the time. He couldn't believe that he'd slipped...now. At the party, in front of all of his co-workers, _at_ the VP of the company.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, Arthur. Erm...I mean, Mr Pendragon." He quickly turned to the bar, placed the empty drink glasses, and grabbed a few napkins. "Here, let me get that for you."

The entire room had quieted down, and the silence was daunting. Merlin could feel his ears getting red with embarrassment. If Uther had seen this, he was going to get sacked for sure.

"Merlin, relax." Arthur was utterly calm and composed. "Let's go get this cleaned up in the Men's room." He grabbed Merlin by the wrist and all but dragged him out of the banquet hall. He saw Gwen looking at him nervously, whereas, Gwaine had given him two thumbs-up.

"Arthur, I'm so..." Merlin was still shaking with anxiety as they entered the Men's room and Arthur locked the door behind them.

"It's okay. Really. I deserve it," Arthur said.

"Deserve it?" Merlin squealed.

"I was an arse to you, and to the _staff_ ," he said, rolling his eyes. "And then I was chasing you around like some stalker—" He sighed and then grabbed a towel and soaked it with water. "You just make me nervous, is all." He wasn't looking at Merlin, instead, concentrating on the wet spot on his white shirt.

" _I..._ make you nervous?" Merlin wasn't sure if he was smiling or scowling; his face felt very numb by the shock of Arthur's confession.

"Don't laugh at me," Arthur said and threw the towel at Merlin. "I didn't really think you were going to come tonight. You never come to these things and then you...look like that."

"Look like what? I'm just wearing a suit," Merlin said and turned to look at his reflection. Then, he too, started to rub at the spilled vodka-cranberry spot on his shirt.

Nobody said anything for a while and then Merlin stopped what he was doing and looked up at Arthur. "You noticed that I didn't come to any of the other company events before?" he asked and much to Merlin's surprise, Arthur blushed. "We only started—" It'd only been six months since they'd started their secret office "affair," or whatever it was.

"I know," Arthur said. "I just imagined us being together for a lot longer..."

"Wait. You _imagined_ us together, before we were actually..." Were they actually together? Merlin thought that he was just some office lackey that Arthur fucked. He wondered how many others like him there were and when did _they_ take their lunch breaks in Arthur's office.

"Merlin..." Arthur sighed and his shoulders sagged a little bit. "I'd been trying to get your attention for...a very long time. You barely looked up at me during our staff meetings and you were always with Gwen or Gwaine, and..."

"And then one day I was working late, and you were working late..."

"Yeah," Arthur said, running his hand through his hair. "I was _working_ late."

"Wait. You _wanted_ me. It wasn't just some fluke that we ended up going for drinks that night and then you came to my flat—"

"No. I _wanted_ that...and you."

"For...a very long time?"

"Yes."

"And I make you nervous."

Arthur sighed. "Sometimes."

" _Really?_ "

"For fuck's sake, Merlin!"

Merlin grinned. "We should probably get back to the party," he said. "They'll come looking for us and if Gwaine—"

"Right," Arthur said and then he looked nervous again. "Will you...come home with me tonight?"

"I'm supposed to go to Gwen's tonight for—"

"Merlin." Arthur took a step towards Merlin and Merlin inadvertently took a step back. They continued to walk like that until Merlin's back was pressed against the wall. Arthur rubbed the back of his hand on Merlin's cheek then he moved to grab Merlin by the back of his neck. He pulled Merlin in for a deep kiss, his tongue prodding Merlin to part his lips. Merlin allowed it and then moaned around Arthur's tongue; his cock getting hard by the second. He could feel Arthur's need against his thigh, too.

Merlin pushed Arthur back before they could cross the line. He didn't want their clothes to get ruined. "Okay, I get the point," he said.

"So..."

"Ask me again."

"Merlin," Arthur whispered into Merlin's ear, his hot breath making Merlin shiver. "Will you come home with me tonight?"

"Yes."

* * *

* * *

"...and stay with me, always."

THE END


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